Phoenix Rising
by enoimreH
Summary: The war is over, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has prevailed.
1. The Last Battle

The Last Battle

  
  


When the battle of Hogsmeade ended, with more dead and wounded then all the previous battles combined, the adults of the wizarding world lost all hope. Actually, it wasn't until the very end. The end, when Hogwarts, the only fortress remaining against Voldemort's army, was destroyed. It wasn't supposed to be. He had meant to capture it, use it for his own. It was the strongest magical or Muggle fortress left in all of Europe. But all his soldiers who could still walk could not be stopped. They blasted apart anything and everything that stood in their way, and even the defenses of Hogwarts couldn't withstand an army of thousands. And with Hogwarts gone, there was nothing left for the opposition, and Voldemort won.

The two previous years had been times of increasing darkness, with the shadow growing and spreading throughout the land. The schools had continued to dwindle, as more and more frightened parents kept their children home, so at least they'd know where they were. At the beginning of the summer, when Voldemort's supporters destroyed Godric's Hollow, after the first battle was lost for the side of good, when the Ministry of Magic finally gave in and publically stated that Voldemort had returned, it was too late. The few who hadn't known or refused to believe earlier had been forced to see, and all had been forced to pick sides. All able-bodied wizards old enough to have graduated were called to fight, and many witches as well. Any trained healers were forced into service, and many of the students snuck into the fights.

All the students who had not been drawn home had their own reasons. Many of the parents realized that their children would be safer there, even if it was attacked. Many realized that they would be better trained to help if they stayed a little while longer. And more still stayed because there was no home, no family to go home to. Dumbledore had opened up the school as soon as he became convinced of the trouble, after Voldemort's resurrection. The spaces left empty by students were soon filled by those in need of protection, and the students that remained were all doing their parts to help in the war. They made healing potions, built up as many protection charms as they could, helped nurse the wounded, and most of all trained themselves for the inevitable battles once they were forced to leave.

And that was why it was so much worse when it was destroyed. Normally at the end of the summer there were less than twenty people remaining at the school, and the creatures and the house elves. But there had been hundreds there, and still they could not protect themselves. And so the castle fell, with a noise that could be heard for hundreds of miles all around, even by the Muggles. And there was a silence, great and terrible, and in that silence died the hope of the wizarding world.

  
  
  
  


A/N: I'm doing my disclaimer and notes down here because I really needed the dramatic beginning to this, and couldn't bear to mess it up with junk. I may do all my author's notes for this story at the bottom, so be prepared for them. This story is dedicated to my friends, St. Louis Boy and 

Marienkäfer, who were part of the original creation of it. They aren't on ff.net, don't attempt to find them.

  
  


Disclaimer: All things recognized from the Harry Potter books belong to someone else (namely J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, and Bloomsbury).

  
  


Claimer: All things not recognized from those sources mentioned above belong to me. Ask (and wait for me to grant permission) before borrowing.


	2. Signs of Life

Signs of Life

  
  


A shock wave rippled through the air as the last bits of broken rock hit the ground, stunning everyone within five miles. The healers, had they come to try to aid the wounded, wouldn't have been able to distinguish the bodies from the rubble and the torn up ground. Of course, they would have been wasting their time, because none of the wounded survived the energy drain that hit when what had been for centuries was no more.

It was days before there was any sign of life for miles. And when it first came, it was in the form of a large brown fuzzy something, covered with dust, that appeared to have poked up from the center of the rubble. It poked up, turned quickly, and disappeared directly back to where it had come from. A passerby would have put it off as just a small animal ducking out of its burrow.

Hermione's voice echoed down the tunnel. "It's clear. There is nothing out there. Hogwarts is totally demolished, and there is nothing besides trees standing for miles." Her task finished, she slid back down the pipe. Sirius caught her at the bottom, and set her on the ground. "They're all dead. I'm not sure there's anyone alive who wasn't down here with us. The only living thing left out there was the forest, and maybe the lake creatures."

"It'll be all right," he reassured her, arm around her shoulder as they walked back to break the news to the rest of the group. "It can't be that bad. There must be someone else alive out there. If all of them were dead, don't you think we would be too?"

"I guess so." She began to sniffle. "Sirius, did you, did you feel it, when it came down?"

"Did I feel what?" he asked, even though he knew what she had meant.

"It's hard to describe. I guess, even though it didn't make any sense, and I had no way of knowing, I knew that Hogwarts was gone. I could feel, inside of me, that it wasn't there anymore."

"Yes, I did. I didn't listen, because I didn't want to believe it. Because if it's really gone, and everyone who was out there was dead, then it's over. If that's real, then we lost."

"If what's real?"Asherah Luæe, a Ravenclaw sixth year who was on the shorter side stepped in.

"I'd rather tell everyone about it together," Hermione offered her a hand.

"Bad news?"

"We'll see." Sirius closed the conversation, and they continued back through the chamber, to where the main group was.

Coupled with Hermione's discoveries, it was a discouraging sight. Besides the three of them, there were about three dozen or so left, all down in the Chamber of Secrets, miles below the lake. Dumbledore had been preparing it since Harry found it in his second year, so it could be used as a shelter, should there ever be a need. It had been built entirely separately from the castle, which was why it was still there. It was a lucky thing too, because if the Chamber of Secrets had been destroyed, the whole lake would have gone with it, destroying much of the surrounding area. But then, Dumbledore hadn't ever really expected that the attack they couldn't resist would be on Hogwarts itself.

And it had been too much for him when the school was attacked. It built a little connection with all who entered its grounds, which built the longer they stayed, and he had been there for most of his hundred-fifty some years. So when they destroyed the school, his connection had been too strong, and eventually the school that had been his life and his love was his death. And he had been the most powerful wizard in the world. Many of the men on the battlefield, already weak and wounded, had died with the severing of a much smaller connection. And those in the Chamber had felt it, just felt it, and known deep in their hearts that what they had once known would never return to how it had been.

"Severus, would you gather everyone up?" Sirius asked, once they had returned to the main chamber.

"Of course." In a few minutes, their small group was all together.

"Hi, everyone. I've just gotten back. I went above, or at least far enough above to see out," Hermione addressed the crowd, which had formed a ring about her.

"What did you see?" various voices prompted her. "What's left?"

"I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Hogwarts Castle is gone."

"Impossible," Colin Creevey's voice shouted from out of the crowd.

"And what of the soldiers?" Dennis piped up. "Have the healers come yet?"

"Listen to me. All of us knew Hogwarts was gone. We may not have wanted to believe it, but I know there is not one of us here who didn't feel something inside them disappear when it fell. And it has left a hole deep inside each of us." After an emotional moment, she continued. "But that hole must be filled, if we are to continue. And it can be filled, not with the reconstruction of our beloved school, but with its essence. The essence of Hogwarts, what made it mean so much to each of us, was not the building, but with the people inside. We must bond together, and fill that void with each other, so that we may be complete, and able to continue. Hogwarts will never be truly gone, for it lives on inside each of us."

"But the soldiers! What about the soldiers?" Dennis pressed her.

She just shook her head.

"You mean-" she interrupted him with a nod.

"I'm sorry, Dennis." He ran to her side, and hid his tears in the black fabric of her robes.

The crowd began dispersing, to discuss the tragic discovery with each other, and do their private grieving for those who wouldn't be coming home. "Severus, could I talk to you for a minute? Dennis, I'm sitting down, that was a bit of a climb."

She took a seat on the floor, leaning against a pillar, and Dennis adjusted to crying into her lap. She fluffed his hair with one hand as Snape came to join her.

"What is it, Hermione?"

"I need to know what we have left down here. The supplies weren't made to last forever, but I've been too busy to go through them. Could you inventory them for me?"

"Of course. I know this hasn't been easy on you, accepting so much responsibility. Remember, though, Dumbledore was insistent that you were the right person for the job. He chose you as Head Girl, knowing full well what that job might turn into this year." He stood, and began making his way to begin the task.

She caught his hand as he stood up. "Wait, Severus."

"Yes?"

"Thank you. Whatever it was that made you stay, thank you. We couldn't do this without you."

He gave that a nod of acknowledgment and pulled his hand away. After he left, Asherah came over and kneeled beside her.

"Hermione? What are we going to do now? I mean, we've only been down here for a few days, but we can't just stay here forever. We might as well have been up there."

"Hush. I don't ever want to hear you say that. It's clear out there, so tomorrow we can begin hunting through for anything left that will be useful. Since we were down here, we are alive. We're the last hope. No one out there will dare fight against Voldemort after he's destroyed Hogwarts. To them, there's nothing to be gained by resistance. We are the only ones left who will fight, who can fight."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Would you mind being a pillow? I think Dennis fell asleep, but I still have some more work to do." Her request was punctuated by a yawn.

"I think you need the nap. Have you gotten any sleep since Harry sent us down here?"

"I'll be all right. I need to go around and get a list of who all is here, and what year they were. We have to know our weapons."

"I'll do it, but only if you promise to stay here and sleep. You won't be any good if you don't get some rest."

"Fine, fine. Just get it finished quickly, don't let me sleep too long, okay?"

"Of course." She removed her cloak and bundled it behind Hermione's head. By the time she stood up, Hermione was out.

  
  


A/N: Hey everyone. I've decided to do all the authors' notes for this story at the bottom, because the chapters need the drama that comes from being straight out. It kind of dulls them to read through my babble first. I suppose this isn't what you were expecting. Well, tough, because if all goes well it will continue not being what you were expecting. The story is still dedicated to St. Louis Boy and 

Marienkäfer, without whom I may have never discovered fan fiction. This was my first ever fan fic idea. The chapter, on the other hand, is dedicated to Jenie, one of my betas, and the brain mother (?) of Asherah. 

  
  


Disclaimer: All things recognized from the Harry Potter books belong to someone else (namely J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, and Bloomsbury).

  
  


Claimer: All things not recognized from those sources mentioned above belong to me. Asherah is sort of half-mine, half-Jenie's (not like that, sickos). Ask (and wait for me to grant permission) before borrowing.

  
  


Thanks to-

Jenie and energy, who beta for me, and are amazing.

Storm Witch RD/Green Eyed Lady, who keeps up my morale and original ideas, helping them actually appear here.

energy (again), who was my first reviewer, and a great encouragement.

aqualaria, who was (probably is, but I haven't heard from her since I posted chapter 1) incredibly sweet.

Candy McFierson, who has a great name and is complimentary (as in giving of compliments, not like the airline peanuts) to the point of wonderfulness.

Jenie, I'm beginning to answer your questions. Just wait, and the rest will come. (And I have the whole hope of the future thing). And thanks for Asherah, it was nice to be able to get the beginnings of the plot down without having to worry about creating someone for myself.

Everyone else who actually gets this far, because even if you don't review (not that I don't want you to, mind) I like being able to share my ideas and writings with people.


	3. Inside the Castle

Inside the Castle

  
  


There were little flashes of light all over, but they did nothing but poke holes in the blackness that couldn't be penetrated. And then the flashes of light formed patterns, and the patterns were lightning bolts. And then the lightning bolts clung to little circles, and just kept coming. They turned into spiders, and broke free of their pattern, and began crawling through her head. The spiders began chasing after her, and no matter where she went, they followed. And suddenly, they all turned and scurried the other way. She turned to see what had scared them away, but they were running after someone else. A tall gangly figure, with flaming red hair. She looked down when her eyes could follow him no more. She was standing on a giant skull. From its mouth issued an enormous green snake that had coiled itself around her, and continued to coil tighter.

  
  


Slowly Hermione's nightmares faded into memories of the days before. 

  
  


Sirius bounded back from his post at the windows of the Shrieking Shack, down the stairs, and through the long tunnel that could bring him out again. He dodged the Whomping Willow's branches with nothing more than a light scratch, and hurried across the lawn to the side door of the school. Once inside, he transformed and ran to Dumbledore's office. "Canary Cream!"

The gargoyle leapt aside, luckily, for he would have smashed his way through it had there been any need. "Albus! Albus, they've come! The army appeared, just south of Hogsmeade! They're coming toward it at a dead run. There are hundreds of them, thousands!" This he called as he ran up the revolving spiral steps. Dumbledore had opened his office door, and Sirius fell inside, panting, face flushed.

"Albus, what are we going to do? We don't stand a chance against them, our whole army isn't that big anymore!"

"Sirius, calm yourself. This is the time for level-headedness, anything else could be fatal. Can you broadcast?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do it from the Great Hall. Call all the soldiers left on our side that can still hold a wand, to right outside the Hogwarts grounds. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

Sirius paused a moment, before leaving. "I never thought it would end like this, Albus. I never thought there would actually be a war."

Dumbledore sighed before answering, "We were forced to choose between righteousness and peace, we chose righteousness."

Sirius nodded, and ran back down the steps and into the Great Hall. It was empty, luckily. He sat in the middle of the room, and attempted to clear his mind. He pointed his wand into his forehead, and shouted "Sonorus Psyche Lucas!" into the emptiness.

'Now is the call for action. The Death Eaters have reached Hogsmeade, and every able-bodied wizard and witch is needed there immediately. We must protect the school at all costs.' He broadcasted the cry for help as far as he could make his mind carry it, to all those without the Mark branded on their souls. He went on repeating the cry for several minutes, until he was interrupted by the sudden entrance of Colin Creevey.

"Sirius, what's going on?"

"They've come. Don't look so shocked, it's not like we weren't expecting it. They'll be in Hogsmeade by now."

"What can I do?"

"Gather the rest of the young ones. Don't let them out to fight, we need to protect them somehow. Send the rest who can walk to Hogsmeade, and anyone else who can hold a wand set to reinforcing the wards on the school."

Colin ran off to spread the word. Right outside the door he ran into Hermione, knocking her over. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Hermione. I didn't see you." He pulled her feet and dashed off to the stairs.

"Colin, wait. Where are you going? What's going on?"

"They've reached Hogsmeade. We're supposed to gather all the children and send the rest to battle and ward building."

"I'll help, I know all the passwords. You take the upstairs classrooms, Hospital Wing, and anything else that you can open. I'll get the common rooms, dungeons, and the other locked places."

"Thank you."

"Don't bother, just run. If we don't go quickly, we'll be too late."

With a parting glance he continued up the marble staircase. She went back through the Great Hall and down to the dungeons. Turning a few corners, she reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room. "Lethifold."

The room was crowded, and filled with a noisy buzz of lingering conversations. "Sonorus," she muttered, wand at her throat.

"Everyone shut up. I need your attention right now. The Death Eaters have reached Hogsmeade. I need all children who have not yet graduated to come with me, all able-bodied adults to get to Hogsmeade to fight now, and everyone else to get outside and work on the wards."

With that said, she turned around and left, walking quickly down the corridor, robes billowing out behind her. She was joined soon by a handful of students and younger children. "All right. If you aren't yet a student, go up to the Great Hall. Aurora Monroe, show them up and keep an eye on them. Find someone else in case of an emergency." The younger ones all left, following Aurora. "All right. Everyone who will be in first through fourth years next year, go tell everyone else in the dungeons the news. Keep all the kids with you. When you're done, go wait in the Great Hall. If you find Draco Malfoy or Blaise Zabini, tell them to find me. Everyone else, follow me."

The younger ones gone, Hermione turned to the others. "All right. Any questions or things you didn't want to say around the kids?"

"What are we doing?"

"Can I go to the toilet?"

"Did you hear the thing earlier?"

"Are we all going to die?"

"Hush. We are going to help spread the message to the people upstairs, if you leave the group just go rejoin the younger ones in the Great Hall, the thing earlier was Sirius Black broadcasting to other wizards to apparate to Hogsmeade and come help with the battle. And no, I don't think we are all going to die, but I won't tell you that we are all going to live, because that's probably not true. Now come on, everyone who's not going to the toilet, follow me upstairs. Quickly now, I don't know how much time we have." She ran off back toward the staircase, with the older students in tow. Once they reached the third floor, they scattered to the classrooms, and Hermione ran off to the Ravenclaw common room.

The torches were lit on the walls, and most of the adults appeared to have already left. "All right," she called out to the half-empty room. "Anyone left who can get to Hogsmeade, go now, as quick as you can. Anyone who has not yet started school, follow Xavier Monroe to the Great Hall. Anyone who has graduated and can't make it to Hogsmeade, use all the power you have left to try to fortify the wards. Everyone who will be a fourth year or below, go spread the news in all the classrooms and anywhere else people are. The rest of you, start with the towers. When you're done, go down to the Great Hall."

The room emptied quickly, and she ran off to the Hufflepuff common room, on the fifth floor. She gave them the same message, and soon the corridors were filled with students banging and yelling at the doors. She slipped into one of the last abandoned hallways and, pointing her wand at her forehead, muttered "Quietus Psyche."

'Draco, Blaise, I need you to gather up all the school supplies and things you can and take them to the Great Hall. Now!'

"Quietus Psyche." 'Harry, Ron, go make sure no one who shouldn't be fighting is out on the grounds.'

"Quietus Psyche." 'Kenzie, Mackenzie, go to the library and get as many books as you can. Take them to the Great Hall.'

By the time she finished, her head ached and she was reeling. The other corridors were empty. She crashed into a wall, barely thinking coherently. "We need brooms, and owls. There's no one else to send for them. I've got to go." She tucked her wand into her pocket and used both hands to press against the back of her head, trying to banish the pain, as she stumbled to the stairs. Using the bannister as support, she made her way up to the owlery.

Most of the owls were gone, being the students personal ones that they had taken home with them or being out with messages. She took a quick glance out the window on her way to the perches. The wards, normally obscuring an inch around the school, were a foot thick, making the view blurry, but she could still see the mob in the heavy black robes trampling across the grounds. She was hit with a hard, dull blast inside her head. Draco's voice reached her. Hermione, where are you?

Pointing her wand back at her head, she whispered, "Quietus Psyche Conversio." 'I'm in the owlery.'

What are you doing there?

'I figured we might want some.'

Get down here.

'I haven't gotten one yet. Did anybody get a broom?'

We got one of Harry's. It's starting. Can't you hear? There's a battle going on right outside the walls. Get down here!

'I just want to grab one owl.'

Speak up. I can't hear you.

'I can't. I'm so tired.' And the connection broke.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron yelled.

"She's in the owlery. I think she just passed out. We were mind-speaking and the connection just cut off."

But Ron hadn't stayed to hear that. As soon as he heard 'I think she passed out' he ran out the doors and began taking the stairs up three at a time. It still took a few minutes, because the owlery was in one of the higher towers. When he got in, Hermione was lying crumpled on the floor, half up against the wall. Hedwig had perched on her shoulder, and refused to get off even after Ron had picked her up. "You stupid owl, fly down. It will take long enough with just the two of us."

Hedwig took off ahead in a sharp dive, and Ron went down as fast as he could with Hermione in his arms. He stopped when they reached the second floor. There was a small crowd going in Moaning Myrtle's toilet, led by Harry.

"Harry, where are you going?"

"We're going down to the Chamber of Secrets. C'mon." Harry let Ron squeeze in next to him, and so he was one of the few who watched Harry open the Chamber. He looked at the tunnel, and back at Hermione in his arms.

"Can you take her?"

"I've got to keep the entrance open."

"I'm supposed to help bring supplies."

"Here," Snape said, lifting her out of Ron's arms into his own. He got one hand onto the wall of the tunnel and lifted himself, along with her, inside. Not everyone was going to the Chamber of Secrets, not by far. Dumbledore had set it up to accommodate about forty people in case of emergency, and he had picked them carefully from those staying at Hogwarts, though no one really knew how he had done it. The rest were being sent to a few other hiding places, within and around the school, or out to protect them. In the end, only Harry and Ron were left, standing outside the entrance to the Chamber, in heated argument.

"Dumbledore picked you out for a reason, you're supposed to be down there."

"He picked you too, you know, and I don't see you going."

"You are the Boy Who Lived, they need you."

"I am the one who can fight Voldemort, they need me more outside."

"We're both supposed to be down in the Chamber helping out. It's the only safe place."

"After you."

"Not on your life. You'll just shut the tunnel up and leave to go fight your battle and get yourself slaughtered along with the rest of them, and I'm not going to let that happen if I can help it."

"Ron, just go down there! Follow the orders, protect yourself, I don't care why you do it, but if you go out there with me, then I'm going to be so worried about you that I won't even notice them killing me."

"If you go out there, so will I. I don't want to see you get hurt, but not knowing if you're dead, and knowing that I might have helped but chose to run and save myself would be torture."

Harry reached out and hugged him. "Thank you, Ron. I really couldn't do this without you." Together they turned and left the toilet, allowing the chamber entrance to close. All the way down to the doors, they made it a point not to look out the windows. So when they finally made it to the ground floor and had opened the small oak side door, what greeted them was the last thing they had expected. The ground was littered with the bodies of their fallen comrades. The hazy wards around the castle were gone. And the mad horde of blood-thirsty Death Eaters all put down their wands. 

Harry and Ron heard the thunderous echo of the enormous castle collapsing around them, only moments before they felt the rip and falling dust and stone. By the time they realized what they meant, it was too late, and the walls came tumbling down.

  
  


A/N: Well, that certainly wasn't what I meant for it to be, but it seemed to work out all right. In case you couldn't tell, this whole chapter is Hermione's dream sequence after Asherah makes her fall asleep, but I had to get down my version of how the battle went. I'm really sorry if the italics didn't work out, because they make the story make a lot more sense. If anyone knows how to successfully italicize, please tell me. I hope you liked it, at the very least. Whoever recognizes and understands the symbolism of the first part, bonus points. And I think the closing line came from an old road show song, "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." Sorry it took so long, one of my betas had exams. Tell me what you thought, please.

  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry, Hogwarts, Death Eaters, of the other recognizable canon elements here. Those belong to the illustrious Jo Rowling, Bloomsbury, and Scholastic. And I didn't make any money off this.

  
  


Claimer: The Monroe quints are mine, though they may not be in the same year as I put them in in Confessions. Tell me if you need one, as they can be quite versatile. The selection of Psyche spells are mine too, though I suppose I don't mind sharing them. Psyche is Greek for the soul, but here it is a really draining spell that makes telepathic connects.

  
  


Thanks much to-

  
  


Jenie and energy, my great betas, as always.

  
  


Rheanna, my encourager and mild critic.

  
  


Lady Lylia-Thank you for reading so much of my work, and for your compliments. They are appreciated.

  
  


Rugi and Gwena-Thanks for finding and reading my work, and for writing your own to inspire my creativity. Hopefully it will become less depressing (when I told my sister about this, she attempted to psycho-analyze me).

  
  


sammie-Thank you for your kind words. You make this feel a lot less pointless.

  
  


Silent Onion-Thank you for the longest and most thought-demanding review I have yet to receive. There is your answer as to Harry, there should be more on the Spirit of Hogwarts in the next chapter, the Ministry was characteristically cheap and defective, we'll see about the remainder, and about Sirius and Snape. Dennis wasn't related to any of the soldiers, he's a Muggle born, but a lot of his friends, including Harry, weren't in the Chamber. I will give answers to most of the rest in up-coming chapters, and thank you for reminding me that we need further description of the Chamber of Secrets.

  
  


sam-This was as quick as I could get it out, factoring in betas. I wrote almost all of it yesterday.


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